Dearest
by Shini'chi Raine
Summary: Re-Uploaded. "The end is near," Pharos told her almost constantly. "I am the end," Ryouji, in his shadow form, told her. She was The World; the Messiah. P3P FeMCxShinji, hints of FeMCxRyouji


_**Dearest**_

_**By Shini'chi Raine**_

_**Raine: **_Re-uploaded to fix a few minor mistakes here and there. I feel like I improved a little bit, and I threw in a few more sentences to try and make the story match the song. Thanks for all the reviews everyone!

_**Summary: **_"The end is near," Pharos told her almost constantly. "_I_ am the end," Ryouji, in his shadow form, told her. "I am_ Nyx Avatar_." She wanted to cry. She wanted to run. She had to be strong. She was _The World_; _the Messiah_. P3P FeMC x Shinji, hints of FeMC x Ryouji

_**Disclaimer: **_The song I'm using is "Dearest" by Ayumi Hamasaki. Persona 3 Portable also belongs to Atlus. I simply love the song and merely own the game.

_Read on!_

[Persona 3 Portable]

_[ It would be nice if we could put away and throw out  
everything except what really mattered, but  
reality is just cruel. ]_

This was it; it was the end. The moon—it opened like a flower, similar to the flowers that opened only at night; thus their namesake, the moonflowers. Power ripped through the world as the moon approached, slowly "opening" and revealing the _true_ Nyx—the _end_ Pharos, no, Ryouji, had kept warning her of had come. The despair of humanity that cried out had reached the ancient being.

But unlike everyone else, Arisato Rei stood in the midst of it all. All of her friends, unable to withstand the pressure that pulsed from the moon as it continued to approach the Earth, protested greatly as she began floating towards it—the moon.

As she entered the center, she grew determined. She faced that golden egg-like center head on.

…By herself.

The egg pulsed with power, rending her body numb, and she cried out in pain, nearly unconscious.

_[ In such times,  
I see you laughing  
whenever I close my eyes. ]_

"_The end is near; I remembered, so I wanted to tell you."_

"_The end is near," Pharos told her, almost constantly. He told her nearly every time they met._

_The last battle with Ryouji, no, Nyx Avatar, with Ryouji's final words ringing in her mind made her nearly delirious with pain—emotional pain._

"I _am the end," Ryouji, in his shadow form, told her. "I am _Nyx Avatar_."_

…_In her state of emotional and physical pain, one voice rang out that brought silent tears to her eyes, despite how she had promised never to cry._

"_Don't cry, Rei… This is how it should be." _

_Shinjirou's last words before he fell into a coma, after taking two bullets to the chest as he protected Ken from Takaya's black revolver. _

"_I'm counting on you, y'know. They're in your hands now."_

_The final night before she had lost the one she loved, after she'd seen his secret smile just for her, only served to make her cry harder at the loss of his warmth._

_[ Until the day I reach eternal sleep,  
that smiling face will  
have to stay with me without fail._

_People are all sad, so  
they go and forget, but—_

_For that which I should love,  
For that which gives me love, I will do what I can. ]_

She struggled to open her eyes as she realized she had kept her promise. She hadn't cried.

But…

She wanted to cry.

She wanted to run.

But…

She had to be strong.

Rei glanced up as power wrenched through her being once more, causing her to break her promise; tears streaked her face as she bit her lip till it bled for the pain.

She was _The World_.

She was the _Messiah._

With a shout, with all of her friends' voices giving her power, giving her strength, giving her courage, she stood, withstanding Nyx's pulsing power, barely batting an eyelid now, dried tears fading from her face.

"…_All right. Let's do this."_

With a wrenched cry as Shinjirou's voice reverberated through her mind, she called upon her power, her gift to the Earth; _The World_ pulsed in her hand as she lifted her Evoker to her scalp.

"_Per…so…na! ORPHEUS TELOS! _

…_GREAT SEAL!"_

The moon returned to its solitary form, the painful presence of Nyx leaving her with a sense of hope as she fell to her knees, crying freely. It was over; it was _finally over_.

Nyx was sealed for another deep, long sleep; at least, of course, until another madman, or mad_men_, decided to try to control the Shadows and use them for their own gain once more.

"We did it, Shinji," she murmured, smiling, exhausted.

"We did it…"

Memories flooded her as she returned to her friends' sides, each of them laughing and crying as they all hugged and clapped her on the back, congratulating each other on a job well done.

_[ Back then, when we met,  
it was all awkward.  
We went the long way, didn't we?  
We got hurt, didn't we? ]_

It was Graduation Day. A whole month had gone by with no one but herself and Aigis remembering the events of the past year. She had spoken with one of classmates who had informed her that Shinjirou had survived the almost fatal blow to his life, due to something blocking the bullet to his heart.

He had awakened. She had hugged the startled, surprised girl in her joy and relief right before she staggered into Aigis, who helped her as they made their way to the rooftop, where the S.E.E.S. group had promised to meet on this day, Graduation Day.

"I have decided to protect you always," Aigis had informed her, more humane than robotic now. Tears flowed freely from the cyborg's mechanical eyes, indicating she had begun to learn about life. Rei smiled gently, tiredly, as she lay on one of the benches provided on the school's rooftop, fighting to stay awake.

_[ Until the day I reach eternal sleep,  
that smiling face will  
have to stay with me without fail. ]_

At first, she thought she was imagining Shinjirou as he panted from running towards her, laughing and shaking his head at her.

"I can't believe you'd make a sick man do this, y'know."

She reached out towards him, and he caught her hand, using the momentum to pull her against his body as he held her tight.

"I can't believe I forgot everything. I won't forget again."

She held onto him as much as she could with what little strength she had left, as she smiled as brightly as she could at him, to which he returned his famous genuine, if small, smile to her; only her.

"Don't forget… I… love… you…" she whispered, the last of her strength slipping away as the world went white.

"…I'm so glad… I met you…" Shinjirou's voice rang in her mind one more time. Shinjirou's grip tightened on her body as silent tears fell. He would never forget her or the lessons she taught him.

He would never forget her love.

_[ Back then, when we met,  
it was all awkward.  
We went the long way, didn't we?  
We got there in the end. ]_

Ryouji greeted her as they both stood before a great gold-and-silver door. She embraced him as she looked determinedly at her fate; her true role in life. Ryouji smiled as he returned her embrace, whispering gently in her ear.

"Hello, my dearest. I was waiting for you."

[Persona 3 Portable]

_**Raine: **_I still cry over the ending in this series. I simply can't stand the idea that the main character dies, but it's what makes this game so great. Rarely have I ever played an RPG where the main character sacrifices him or herself to save the world—and boy, was this storyline just amazing. Reviews, please!

_**Author's Review Responses: **_

**I'm Doxophobic****:** My guess is P3P is your first Persona series game, and to be honest, P3P is also my first SMT: Persona game, although I've ordered both _Persona 3: FES_ & _Persona 4_ to play on my PS2, FES because of the extended storyline for Aigis/Aegis (she has two spellings for her name, from what I've seen) and Persona 4 because it's "two years later." I also have the original _Persona 1_ for my PSP, but that one isn't as great compared to P3, P3P, & P4 (graphics are sucky & I'm spoiled with the graphics, lol). Thank you for reviewing my story!

**Deidara'sgirl19****: **I sense a Naruto fan—and only because I'm also a major Naruto fan. LOL. Anyway, thank you for reviewing my story! Yeah, I happened to be listening to some old anime favorites when "Dearest" came up and I got the inspiration (I was obsessed with InuYasha back then, and memorized all my favorite songs plus the translations ahaha) to write it for P3P, since I'm beginning to become quite addicted to this video game series, and aside from the Tales or Pokemon games, it's rare for me to become addicted and/or obsessed with another RPG series (I've played the Final Fantasy games but I'm not as into them like a major RPG'er like myself should be [chuckle]).


End file.
